Poker is one of the oldest and most well-known casino games in the world. Regularly featured in movies, literature, and currently having even it's own flock of celebrities; it is now also one of the most popular. But, even though poker has had a world series since the 70s already, it has only been just recently that poker has been escalated to a new level.

Poker tournaments are featured on television, and likewise streamed online to thousands of viewers. But how is it that poker has suddenly leapt to such a peak of popularity? The answer is very simple; it is thanks to the enormous increase of players of online poker, a phenomenon that has all but taken the world by storm.

Recent Technological Advances

Online versions of poker have been possible for some time now. In fact, internet technology has been capable of making online poker happen for nearly two decades. There is, after all, very little in terms of data streaming needed to make an online poker game happen. But, this massive leap in internet capability happened so suddenly that it took some time for available games to catch up.

Internet users may now stream videos and live streams in high definition, but such data transfer speeds were a myth not so long ago. The increase in data transfer speeds has been exponential in the recent years. So, although we may scoff at how simple online poker games may seem now, making it possible was a technology leap that needed to happen. And, once it happened, game developers took time to make full use of this incredible new potential.

Today players may access online poker, online slots Canada games and just about any other form of casino entertainment from virtually any handheld mobile device, but we should never forget that not so long ago the internet was a luxury, accessible to very few.

Online Gambling Laws

A perhaps more important point that contributed to the rise of online poker is that laws, up until recently, forbade gambling from occurring online. Users were able to play casino games, but not play them for real money. Once these laws changed many leapt at the chance to play online casino games and earn real cash while doing so. One of the most popular games was, and still is, poker.

With the online option available many newcomers appeared on the poker scene, and many began to take the game incredibly seriously, given the new boost in popularity. It comes as no surprise, then, that many of the top poker players in the world today had their start participating in online poker tournaments.

Online Poker Future

Given that online poker is only increasing in popularity, it seems that the world of online poker is set only to expand further than it has already grown. More and more players are trying poker at their favourite online casinos, and finding the game to be enjoyable. So we can all look forward to more worldwide tournaments, and a bigger focus on the game.

If you're curious about online poker, and would like to test your skills, free versions of the game are available at most popular online casino locations, and can be accessed via mobile smartphone.